


perhaps that's enough

by resident_longwinded_anon



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, and then disappear again probably, but this isn't exactly a happy time in canon, in which i pop up out of the depths, no actual content warnings or anything, or at least ruminating on stuff discussed therein, post-MAG 168 sorta, so please be careful with yourself, teeny tiny introspective piece, to post something tiny from a new fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resident_longwinded_anon/pseuds/resident_longwinded_anon
Summary: A meditation on the eye of the storm.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	perhaps that's enough

**Author's Note:**

> So cuttooth posted [some tags on a tumblr post](https://cuttoothed.tumblr.com/post/619006907077853184) and I went from "oh that would be nice" to "the first paragraph of this fic just punched me in the chest," and then I went from "the first paragraph of this fic just punched me in the chest" to "oh I guess I'm writing the whole thing now," and here we are.
> 
> Title from "Ragnarok III: Strange Meeting" by The Mechanisms ([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXtveKZEZK0)), not just because of the obvious crossover appeal but because it gives me the exact same punched-in-the-chest feeling as the first paragraph of this fic did. Fair warning to those of you unfamiliar with The Mechanisms that it's a song off a concept album, and you really will not get the full effect unless you listen to the whole thing.

They stumble, finally, into a clearing. It’s notable at first because it’s just a clearing. It’s not a burnt-out crater still hot beneath their feet, it’s not the ground gone gaping and empty to trick them into a fall, it’s not an open mouth waiting to snap closed; it’s a clearing.

It’s notable next because of how Martin gasps at Jon’s side, hand going to his chest as though it hurts. Jon has a split second of clenching dread before he realizes: it’s the same clearing. Nothing’s changed. Nothing he can see. Nothing - and this is what eases the fear before it can even take root, really - he can See.

“Are you okay?” he asks Martin, but he already knows the answer. He thinks he would have known the answer even if he didn’t just... Know all the Answers, now. This is a clearing. It’s just a clearing. Nothing in the world is just anything anymore, but this is just a clearing.

“I - yeah. I’m fine,” Martin answers, tears in his eyes, and it’s the first time that’s been even slightly true in - in as long as Jon can remember. “Where  _ is _ this place?”

“Your domain,” Jon says without thinking, and he doesn’t really know what he’s saying until Martin gasps again. “Your domain,” Jon says again, just to taste the wonder of it in his mouth. There are tears in his own eyes, now.

“But - I’m not -  _ it’s _ not -  _ how? _ ” His voice breaks on the word.

“I don’t... know. I can’t see that.”

Martin squints at the far edge of the clearing. Jon can’t quite make out what’s beyond it, with any of his eyes. He finds he likes the thought: he’s spent all this time protecting Martin, and now Martin, or a part of him, has the chance to protect him.

“Is it a good thing, do you think?” Martin asks, with the same pragmatism he’s treated everything since the world ended.

“I hope so. I really hope so, Martin.”

All of Jon’s bones ache. He wants, more than anything, to lie down in Martin’s soft, cool grass and see if they can’t manage to sleep in this beautiful place, if Martin’s power over the horrors of the world extends that far.

It would, he thinks. It would.

Martin still holds his hand against his heart. His gaze is still fixed on the edge of his domain, this little slice of apocalypse that he managed to make soft and true and good without even realizing. Jon loves him so much it hurts, this man who is here in the core of his own goodness and who still has his eyes on the horizon.

“You don’t want to stay,” Jon says. It’s not a question.

Martin smiles ruefully and turns his gaze back to Jon. “Didn’t have to read my mind for that one, huh?” He grabs Jon’s hand, rubs his fingers over his knuckles. “We could... stay a little while. I don’t want to force you back out there.”

Jon sighs. “You wouldn’t be. You’re not.” He leaves it that. They’ve talked it over enough: Jon’s longing for atonement, Martin’s desire for vengeance, their mutual hope that maybe, somehow, they can manage to mitigate the damage, even if reversing the apocalypse is beyond anyone’s ability.

If there is an after, there will be time to rest then.

They walk, hand in hand, across the clearing that is Martin’s hope and Martin’s power and Martin’s soul. When they reach the edge, Jon takes a moment to kiss him, long and soft and lingering. “I love you,” he says. He means it now more than he ever has, he thinks.

Martin squeezes his hand. They step together over the threshold.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the obligatory reassurance to those of you who came here from my longfic that I'm still working on it, but it's not exactly been my first priority lately, for, uh, obvious reasons. This is the equally obligatory apology to new readers that my posting is exactly as sporadic and random as that sentence probably makes it seem. Uh, sorry?
> 
> I started listening to TMA mid-February, finished it by the end of the month, and started writing fic... probably the 23rd or so? And have been chipping away at various longfics since then, but as we know my track record for finishing those in a timely manner is nonexistent. But it's been a while since I fell this hard and fast into a fandom, and it's been delightful being part of a fandom while it airs for the first time since my old SPN days. I had a lot of fun writing this itty bitty thing, and I'm hoping maybe I can get back into writing shorter fics again? But we'll see. Either way I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
